Ficus trees ( Ficus benjamina ) , also known as crying Ficus carica , are popular container - grown houseplants . Many ficus owners take their little trees alfresco in the summer months to leave the sun and rainfall to restore their winter - aweary industrial plant . While ficus trees bask their summertime respite , they can attract thripid – modest , soft - bodied louse that damage leave-taking and buds . Before bringing your Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree inside , distinguish and take steps to control thripid .
Identification
glasshouse thrips ( Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis ) are the most common species to round ficus Tree . Feeding on the underneath side of mature leaf , greenhouse thrip are approximately 3/64 of an column inch long . Their body are slender and black with a Ag sheen and get out a sticky , varnish - corresponding excrement on leaf surface . Larvae are semitransparent and white . Thrips like a moist , shady environment and will not reproduce in large numbers under hot , dry conditions .
Damage
thripid are sucking insects , and their feeding habits damage ripe leave . Your genus Ficus ’s leaf surface will grow bleached areas and new leaves may be distort . Extensive thrip damage will cause leave to wilt , exsiccate and drop . The varnish - comparable excreta inhibits transpiration , further stress your plant . pass over this material off the leaves with a soft cloth dipped in chafe alcohol .
Chemical Control
Many species of thrip are difficult to control with available chemical pesticides because of their small size and mobility , but greenhouse thrip are tiresome moving and susceptible , agree to the University of California Integrated Pest Management Program . The political program put forward that " thoroughly implement most any insecticide will kill this mintage " although it further recommends " good cultural practices and conservation of natural enemies with the manipulation of least - toxic insecticides , such as narrow - range oil color . “Low - toxicity sprays include pyrethrins combined with piperonyl butoxide and insecticidal scoop . Neem fossil oil is very efficacious against nursery thrips .
Cultural Controls
Close observation of your ficus Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree can identify and stop an impending thripid outbreak . Use bright yellow sticky traps , usable at garden centers , to bewitch early thrip settler . catch early , thrips can be managed with minimal chemical controls .
Also keep your ficus tree prune . Remove damaged leaves and broken branches . Do not permit container to sit in the standing water of a drainage tray . This create a moist surroundings favorable to thrips . Always site a bed of gravel in the tray to elevate the bottom of the pot .
Natural Controls
Several species of beneficial insects provender on thrip . Green lacewing larvae , ladybird beetle beetles , epenthetic WASP and predatory mites are available at many glasshouse and garden plaza . relinquish around your ficus Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , these harmless ( to humans and pets ) arthropods will consume thrips and thrip larvae .
Verticillium lecanii is a fungal pathogen that penetrates the thripid taboo cuticle . According to Cornell University , " once inside the insect , the fungus chop-chop multiplies throughout the trunk . Death is because of tissue destruction and , once in a while , by toxin produced by the fungus . " As an added benefit , the fungus can emerge as the dirt ball ’s physical structure decays , spreading the deadly fungus to other thrips .
